Yashamaru
Yashamaru is a member of the Iga Tsubagakure clan and one of the ten ninja picked by Ogen to participate in the battle against the Kouga. He is engaged to fellow Iga ninja Hotarubi. Appearance Yashamaru is a young man with long, black hair whcih he ties in a loose ponytail with a red ribbon, allowing his fringe to cover some of his face. He wears a traditional ninja outfit consisting of a black kosode and black hakama. The sleeves of his kosode are long enough to cover his entire arm and also very wide, hanging down when he lifts his arms. He also weras black fingerless gloves, black tabi socks and traditional sandals. During his fight with Shougen Kazamachi he is forced to cut his hair off, making it short and slightly spikey. Biography Visit to Sunpu Yashamaru is specially selected by Ogen to be her representitive when she travels to Sunpu to meet Ieyasu Tokugawa. When there he is made to battle against Shougen, who is the representitive of the Kouga selected by Danjou. Yashamaru begins the match by attacking with his "Black Ropes", which force Shougen to back off. He manages to tie Shougen to a rock and taunts him as he pulls the strings tighter and tighter. Eventually he completely slices through the rock, but Shougen escapes and spits his glue-like saliva in Yashamaru's face. With Yashamaru's hands bound to his face in the saliva Shougen moves behind him and taunts him. Yashamaru uses the opportunity to use the ropes around his ankles to slice away the saliva and free himself, though it cuts his hair in the process. The pair then run up to the roof, Yashamaru using his ropes to pull him up. They continue the battle with Shougen spitting more saliva at Yashamaru, who manages to dodoge it all. They run towards each other for the final attack but are ordered to stop, which they do immediately. Yashamaru is shown to have wrapped Shougen's head within his "Black Ropes". The two rejoin their leaders and watch as the peace treaty is broken and ninjas from both clans are selected for battle. Yashamaru is then handed a scroll by Ogen, who orders him to take it back to Iga. As he leaves he passes Danjou, who manages to take the scroll unbeknownst to Yashamaru. Return to Iga Personality Yashamaru is rather loud, brash and cocky man who is not afraid to brag and taunt his opponents in the middle of battle. Despite all this he is madly in love with Hotarubi and often worries about her. He is one of the few Iga ninja who wanted the peace treaty to succeed, hoping it would allow him to marry Hotarubi without worrying about potential attacks. He also seems to care of his honour, shown when he wanted to kill Saemon to restore his honour. Abilities "Black Ropes": Yashamaru's "Black Ropes" are garrote wires woven from the hair of young women and alchemically treated with natural oils harvested from wild animals, which gives them the consistency of steel. He ties them around his forearms and he also keeps some around his calves to use if his hands are immobilized. He uses the wires as an extension of his own body, able to tie up opponents, flay them, or use the strands to pierce like needles. Swordmanship: While Yashamaru is never seen fighting with a sword he is often seen carrying one on his back. This hints that he might have been good at wielding a sword and that it may have been used as his back-up weapon should his "Black Ropes" be beaten. Relationships Hotarubi Hotarubi is engaged to Yashamaru and he cares for her deeply. On is return from Sunpu, after he realised he had lost the scroll, his first thoughts were hoping that she was safe as he believed her to be unaware of the treaty being broken. When shown in flashbacks Yashamaru is almost always standing with Hotarubi, often holding each other tightly. Tenzen Yashamaru, like many of the Iga, respected Tenzen and would do almost anything he asked. This is shown when Yashamaru answers "Tenzen"'s questions of the scroll without hesitation. He also hints that he is aware of Tenzen's special ability, though it is likely most Iga ninja are. Trivia *Yashamaru appears in the film "Shinobi: Heart Under Blade", which is based on the same source material as Basilisk. He is portrayed by Japanese actor Tak Sakaguchi, though the character is quite different from his Basilisk persona. Category:Iga Ninja